Real-time spectrum analyser

16 July 2014 Test & Measurement

Signal Hound’s BB60C, successor to the company’s affordable BB60A real-time spectrum analyser and RF recorder, boasts significant performance improvements such as a frequency range of 9 kHz to 6 GHz, an instantaneous bandwidth of 27 MHz, and the ability to sweep the RF spectrum at 24 GHz per second.

The new instrument has improved spurious-free dynamic range by typically 20 dB; the noise floor has been flattened by reducing frequency band transitions more than 8 dB; operating temperatures have been extended down to -40°C and up to

+65°C; and streaming I/Q bandwidth is now selectable from 250 kHz to 27 MHz.

Signal Hound touts the BB60C as being able to accomplish more than 80% of the work of a high-end spectrum analyser for less than 20% of the cost. By adding custom software and a low-cost Intel i5 NUC vPro-enabled computer, users can also remotely perform spectrum analysis, manage system recovery, turn on and off the unit, and update software, all over the Ethernet.

The analyser ships with a fully documented API written in C++. The open source software provides examples of efficient techniques for creating new functions and interfacing the API when writing customised applications.

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